X-ray machines battle gem theft

DEBSWANA said yesterday it planned to install 10 full-body X-ray machines at four mines in Botswana after “indications” of gem theft in the world’s biggest producer of the precious stones. The value of the diamonds it mined and their small size “predisposes” the gems to theft and crime, Debswana, a joint venture between the Botswana government and Anglo American unit De Beers, said in a notice. The relocation of De Beers diamond trading operations to Gaborone, from London had the potential to attract “sophisticated criminal syndicates”, causing lost revenue and an increase in black-market diamonds, the company said. In the first three quarters of last year, Debswana produced 18.3 million carats and earned revenue of 26.7 billion pula (R32.1bn). – Bloomberg